Women co-workers bonding can reduce conflict in organisation

New York, July 15: Strong bonding stays for years and it is favourable for the workplace as well. Female co-workers friendship help in reducing conflict, a study has revealed.

According to a study, when employers have good relation in office, they offer cool environment that supports positive and social relationships, especially in primarily male dominated organisations, they are less likely to experience conflict among women employees.

“While gender diversity and inequality are well documented topics in management, sociology and labour economics, few have looked closely at the gendered negative relationships within the workplace from a social relationship perspective,” said Jennifer Merluzzi of George Washington University.

Merluzzi surveyed 145 management-level employees regarding workplace dynamics which were primarily male-dominated, with women representing less than one-third of the workforce.

The author revealed that while men and women are equally likely to mention having a difficult co-worker, but as compared to men, women are more likely to cite another woman as a difficult co-worker than a man.

However, this tendency is reduced among women who cite having more women co-workers for social support and friendship at work.

The study “Gender and Negative Work Ties: Exploring Difficult Work Relationships Within and Across Gender at Two Firms” conducted by Merluzzi showed that unique gendered network characteristics can help to reduce conflict in organisation.

“Understanding the relational side of conflict also bears practical importance as companies increasingly organise using diverse teams, heightening the reliance on informal ties between and within gender to get work accomplished.” Merluzzi added.

Here’s how materialism may harm your married life

New York, Feb 16:Do you often end up having heated discussions with your spouse over money matters? Beware, your fondness for material possessions may affect your love life and push your marriage towards an unhappy ending, says a new study.

The study found that when materialism — the pursuit of money and possessions — gets prioritised over other dimensions of life, it harms conjugal bonding.

Materialism crowds out other life priorities and creates a scarcity of time for other priorities such as communication, conflict resolution and intimacy.

It thus decreases the importance and sense of satisfaction in a marriage.

“Marriage dissatisfaction occurs because those who highly value money and possessions are less likely to value their marriage and are thus likely to be less satisfied in their relationship,” said lead author Ashley LeBaron, Professor at the Brigham Young University (BYU) in Ohio.

Further, materialism may also be associated with a possession-oriented rather than a relationship-oriented approach to happiness.

In other words, materialistic spouses may be seeking happiness in possessions, rather than people, which means they end up putting less time and energy into making their marriage a success, the researchers noted, in a paper published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

Despite the findings, the researchers believe that changes can be made by couples to solve this issue.

“Many people are not fully aware of their materialism or the degree to which the pursuit of money is becoming an unbalanced priority in their life,” explained Jason Carroll, Professor at BYU.

“It is helpful for spouses to evaluate and openly discuss the time patterns in their lives and make sure they are devoting enough time to prioritize and strengthen their marriage relationship,” Carroll suggested.

For the study, the researchers asked 1,310 married individuals to fill a questionnaire in order to measure their materialism, perception of marriage importance and marital satisfaction.

Ditch flowers, perfumes; gift your Valentine something different

New Delhi, Feb 14: Give chocolates, flowers and fragrances a miss, say experts who suggest a box-full of natural sanitary pads for your girlfriend and gift your man a coffee maker on Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated on February 14 every year.

* Cufflinks look small but do wonders to simple and boring outfits. There are number of designs and textures available that can bring instant fun to the look. Cufflinks with Aztec design works best for formal attires. Those imprinted in different motifs like skull, bear and bottles, can be gifted to someone who likes to keep it funky and hippie.

* Buy him/her a pair of footwear. A pair of white sneakers is not a desire but a need that will complement a casual styling.

* You could gift her diamonds or that gorgeous dress she mentioned a few days back, but you can also show that you care about her by getting her a chic black box that consists of natural sanitary pads. The top-layer of the pads is made with corn starch, the middle layer or the core is made of bamboo fiber, while the bottom is made with corn-based bioplastic.

The box has one-month pack of pads along with a tea box, a scented candle and essential oil. These will help make her hardest time of the month, a lot more bearable.

* If she loves her ice cream tub, get her a heart-shaped ice cream scoop and if she loves different glasses, how about getting her a heart-shaped glass in which she can sip her whiskey or hot chocolate.

* Your boyfriend/girlfriend loves coffee? Invest in a good duet coffee maker which can brew two cups of finely brewed coffee with one fill.

* For a special and intimate night on Valentine’s Day, be a bit more daring by gifting him or her a vibrating sex ring, pleasure sleeve for men, lucky ball masturbator or glow in the dark condoms.

Most Indians consider Valentine’s Day as any other day: Survey

New Delhi, Feb 13: A lot of Indians don’t believe in celebrating Valentines Day, which falls on February 14, and think “the most romantic day of the year” should be treated like any other day, reveals a survey.

The survey was conducted online by www.shaadi.com, a matchmaking service, with over 8,200 responses from Indians (married/unmarried) aged between 20-35 years.

When men and women were asked “Which day do they look forward to the most”, 61 per cent said “Own birthday/anniversary”, followed by 36 per cent who said “New Year’s Day” and 3 per cent who said Valentine’s Day, read a statement.

When asked “Do you believe in celebrating Valentine’s Day?”, 68 per cent said “No” and 32 per cent said “Yes”.

To further understand the reason behind Valentine’s Day celebrations losing its charm, millennials were asked “Why do you not celebrate Valentine’s Day?” and 55 per cent said “It is over-hyped”, 28 per cent said “Every day is Valentine’s Day with my special someone”, 17 per cent said “Too crowded to step out”.

When asked “Do you think Valentnne’s Day should be treated like any other day?”, 67 per cent said “Yes” and 33 per cent said “No”. ”

“The way Valentine’s Day is celebrated has changed over the years. Especially in the recent times, it has become increasingly commercialised and hence, the charm is now lost for some people,” said Shaadi.com’s CEO Gourav Rakshit.